Improvement in metallic piston-packings



w. A/Buvpan.; Metallic Piston-Packing. No. 143,956. Patentedocr.28,1873.

LTNITED STATES PATENT OrrIcnu WILLIAM A. BOYDEN, OF HARRISBUBG,PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN METALLIC PISTON-PACKINGS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 143,956, dated October28,1873; application filed i September l20, 1873.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM A. Bornniv, of Harrisburg, in the county ofDauphin and State of Pennsylvania, have invented an Au- Y tomaticMetallic Piston-Packing, of` which the serted in, and project outwardfrom, said wedges, whereby there is an automatic action upon the wedges,so as to press the packing outward against the bore of thesteam-cylinder at all points of the circumference of the piston, ashereinafter fully described.

Fignre l is a view of the interior of a piston having the improvedpacking, one of the wedges B and the follower E being removed. Fig. 2 isa cross-section at the line x a; of Fig. l. Fig. 3 is a perspective viewof one of the wedges B.

Like letters of reference in all the figures indicate the same parts.

A is the piston-head, which has a series of openings, a., at itsperiphery, extending to the plate b, in which are placed wedges B, forthe automatic adjustment of the packing-ring C. One of the wedges isshown in detail in Fig. 3. The wedges have openings c, which containwire springs D, upon the outer ends of which rests the follower E. Thefollower is held in place by means of screws G, which enter the tappedholes el of the radial arms e between the wedge openings a of thepistonhead A.

The operation is as follows: The pressiue of the springs D upon theirseats causes the inclines f of the wedgesB to slide over the dupli cateinclines g g in the openings a of the pistonhead A, whereby the wedgesadvance outward from the center thereof, an d thus press with theirouter surfaces against the intermediate split ring F, which forces thesplit packing-ring (l against the bore of the cylinder automatically,according to the pressure of the steam, taken in connection with thedegree of inclination of the wedges, the inclines being made on anydesired angle. j

It must readily appear that the packing-ring C is automatically adjustedto the cylinder as it wears away by the action of the steam onthefollower, and in accommodation to any irregularity of the cylinder,either longitudinally or in its cross-area, as each wedge B actsindependently of all the others.

I claim as my invention-f l The series of wedges B, -pro vided withsprin D, combined and arranged with the pistonhead A, having openings aand inclines g, the follower E, packing-ring C, and intermediate ring F,substantially in the manner and for the purpose set forth.

XVM. A. BOYDEN.

Witnesses:

H. SHELLENBERGER, DANIEL SNIDER.

